After some moments he stood up and stretched as Ellen was dangling upside down in her harness, how she managed that, even he was unsure. But after cutting off her harness her nose began to bleed, and as she had no other choice, she chose to use the cloth of his armor as a tissue.

  “Theatrics are important when it comes to these things, it would be suspicious otherwise”

  And again, he couldn’t ignore her logic, but Anora might..

  “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t.. but.. what’s done is done. Now, what are we going to do about those broken ribs? It’s even more surprising you can talk after having your breath knocked out of you. Infallible determination? Or is it the gift of being an alcoholic drunkard? I don’t believe any science can makes sense of this”

  Chuckles aside, Ellen's current state was less than optimal, that being obvious if not for him now being involuntarily soaked in her blood.

  “Shut up, I’m not going to drink a drop of that vindictive liquid again. To think I was able to keep the buzz alive for the last three days, I’ve surpassed my limits and gone where no medical professional has gone before.. hell! If my injuries don’t kill me the hangover will”

  Ellen was more over dramatic than anything else, but he couldn’t fault her this time as she began to cling to his arm and refused to release it, forcing him to now carry her as the exit latch was moments away from being forced open from the other side.

  “Relax your body, close your eyes, and take a deep breath. And for any consolation I won’t leave your side, the exception is the latrine, I figure nurses would be more than qualified-”

  Alas, Ferris’s humor cured her, at least in the sense she elbowed him as hard as she truly could, and with a grimace she could only cry before naturally closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, which in itself was very painful but enough to calm her for a time.

  Moments later the latch was forcefully opened, and a series of Sol’s First Responders greeted them, and as he began to inform them of her status, she was carefully placed on a stretcher with a hovering element.

  At no time did she release his arm leaving him in a peculiar predicament as they entered the emergency shuttle, leaving him little choice but to take a seat as the paramedics assessed her injuries further.

  A punctured lung, three broken ribs, alcohol poisoning, fractured elbow, dehydration, a gunshot wound, a much older puncture wound, and many more miscellaneous injuries.

  As for Ferris.. he was relatively fine if not for a nosebleed, bruising, and relatively minor injuries, as to how that was possible. He didn’t have a clue..

  No matter the case, he declined treatment, and in turn he had soon discovered he wasn’t immune from Smalltalk as the elaborate story Ellen had thrown together was eventually brought up.

  “So what you’re saying is her side arm fell off her console, bounced once and fired at the pilot controls before bouncing a second time hitting The Slipspace Drive, before ‘again’ bouncing off your helmet.. then afterwards you felt she was too irresponsible for a side arm and.. spaced it? So, her being drunk had ‘nothing’ to do with it-that's a lot of zeros? Ok then. In my expert opinion, I believe she suffered from a spontaneous seizure”

  The female paramedic was skeptical nonetheless..

  And soon enough after a short trip, they had finally arrived at The Sol Medical Center, only for the sight of a bloodied alliance captain perhaps in a rather ceremonious suit, and whose arm was being clung to by a female researcher or perhaps director telling by her suit's markings.

  To say they would soon learn of their legendary ship at least by Alliance standards, and its peculiar origins would be an understatement. While many found it intimating nonetheless, despite it identifying itself as a research ship..

  Many in orbit also questioned how such a thing could be called one, while the fact alone that it could outgun and outsize nearly anything in the system was especially comedic as Anora, after identifying herself as his XO and making use of her cloned body, reacted to the reports.

  Strangely enough, she was far too focused on enjoying having a physical body to pay attention to Ferris at that particular moment, and now she didn’t know what to think about that drunkard..

  …

  And after being sent into The VIP Ward, a private room with a view and balcony was arranged, followed by several rounds of treatment, several small surgeries, a series of checkups, and finally a shower, the room remained quiet and undisturbed.

  It appears she only required two weeks to completely recover as the facilities and doctors despite being on such an odd world were surprisingly advanced and highly educated even by his standards.

  At the very least, the medical field hadn’t stagnated as compared to humanities weaponry and slip drives.

  …

  And soon enough three days had passed as Ellen slept off her hangover and whatever else that dared to restrict her, and on the fourth she finally opened her eyes, only to see Ferris eating a frozen meal while still holding her hand.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  He’d much prefer to allow her his hand than his arm as it eventually became bothersome.. as for his appearance now.

  Ferris still looked to be twenty-five, he had a short well-groomed dirty blonde buzz cut fade, a short yet also well-groomed stubble as he hadn’t shaved in quite some time. As for his skin and features, his skin was somewhat pale but not so much it was unhealthy.

  While it could be said he was generally attractive in the human sense, as was his golden hazel eyes..

  Aside from that.. Ferris had no real thought on his appearance, Ellen on the other hand after some momentary thoughts dismissed them before finally releasing his hand, which in turn revealed a handprint as she slowly sat up with his assistance.

  And leaving Ellen no other choice but to squint as the two shared a glance.

  “Ferris was it? Forgive me for my previous behavior, it’s unbefitting of either of us. I fear I’ve hoped to have died by the bottle on New Harvest then ever expect rescue. So much so that until my arrival at this facility, I believed I was hallucinating from alcohol poisoning..”

  She then further explains she was on autopilot in the sense that drinking such obscene amounts and still not dying led to her erratic behavior and unsound mind. So much so that she believed her actions and ultimately her predicament was that of a lucid dream before her death.

  To her, it was all so truly absurd that it couldn’t have possibly been reality. None of which truly surprised him, as the absurdity of it all was undoubtedly.. an experience?

  Even he had some difficulty believing the authenticity of these strange strings of fate.

  “You’ve saved my life thrice now, and I’m forever grateful. But I fear I’m far too much trouble than I’m possibly worth, I may have saved myself some time, but in doing so doomed you. I wasn’t supposed to survive, it was a fluke, a magnificent mistake-”

  Ellen was truly dramatic, no matter how serious she truly was.

  “There was no mistake, and think nothing of it. I value your company, so Ellen.. what’s next for this grand adventure of yours?”

  Be it reassurance or dismissal, he believed no regret can exist if at any part you enjoyed the great adventure between the strings of fate.. followed only by momentary silence.

  Followed only by the physical manifestation of thought, the thought being the ultimate translation of nothing as she began to squint at Ferris..

  “We already have a ship.. If that’s anything to go off of?”

  But before Ferris could finish his thoughts.

  “We had nothing a moment ago and despite others' generosity, none of them could truly be trustworthy. I much prefer to make do with what ‘we’ have, even if it means moving furniture around? While.. I have enough credits to live happily but not very long..”

  Her words were surprisingly solid, as was her honesty and whatever else was deemed trustworthy. It was reassuring, perhaps even hopeful..

  This was enough to go on, no matter how absurd their first meeting, they were now companions born of the countless strings.

  And with this, the journey truly began. Thankfully even while outdated by five years, Ellen’s information, contacts, and credits still held enough weight to make a real difference. And as soon as she could walk without pain, they left the hospital.

  Only now she wore her suit and tinted her helmet as it was easier and less painful when compared to being less effective and easily noticed.

  Her Armor aside.. and seeing as their benefits included free transportation and medical related services, they weren’t forced to converse.

  However, Ellen made sure to send a message to her old benefactor before immediately reobtaining her emergency necessities in her vault within Earth Bank.. an odd name to be sure but one he knew as it was painfully generic.

  While Hellen’s Necessities consisted of her identification, a set of suspiciously military documents labeled top secret, a card containing five billion credits, private miscellaneous, and a Prototype ‘Alliance’ Gunship..

  Its main weaponry consisted of a suspiciously twin barrel plasma turret, plasma torpedoes, and laser pulsers..

  From what he could gather, this era mainly used kinetic and laser weaponry, but due to the stagnation, plasma and specifically pulse laser weaponry was especially difficult to craft, let alone on a mass scale.

  “I.. procured this ‘mining’ vessel after a curious little trip to Mars, now do me the honor of changing its transponder. I made short work of its old transponder, adapting it shouldn’t be too difficult. But whatever you do, do NOT converse with that harlot. You’ll know what I mean in a moment”

  And as the moments passed, her words were undoubtedly confirmed as slurs and obscenities mimicking Ellen’s voice rang through the hangar as if a unholy ghost.

  “A.. Curator Fragment-”

  Ferris commented before realizing whose it was.. Elizabeth? Ernest’s revelation was rather premature it would seem. Even odder that her fragment escaped to mars and was forced to reside inside of a Curator Gunship of all things..

  After a moment of contemplation, he discreetly placed her in his pocket and thought nothing of it. However soon after buckling into the gunship, and exiting the hangar, Ferris quietly ‘attempted’ to close his eyes for several minutes.

  Only not before noticing Ellen’s.. squinting eyes?

  “I’m Arcadian, I lost a dear friend, my most trusted confidant has already mourned me, I had a daughter once, she died, and was likely revived while I was in cryo. My mother reminds me of a Curator in the sense that she’s emotionless, indifferent, and efficient. But I fear she too may have already mourned me. And now I’m here, twenty-five, give or take a century in cryo?”

  Ferris calmly humored without a second breath, having believed by revealing his thoughts he’d simply get it over with. However, in the end, Ellen found it all to be profoundly sad..

  “Knowing Arcadians.. very little could have changed. I’m not going to ask what happened to you or how you found yourself in our predicament, as none of that is my business. But, if we were to ever find ourselves nearby, you could always give me a tour, even if it’s just for the sights. Think about it, ok?”

  Ellen’s words were strangely comforting, if not somewhat encouraging.

  “That’s a thought, perhaps I will.. at least until this business is dealt with, and.. thank you. I’ll strive to be worthy of your words”

  In response he received only that of a subtle smile, and in time they had finally arrived within The Chardonnay’s Hangar.

  “The name’s ridiculous but I can at the very least respect it..”

  Ferris quietly humored before swiftly making his escape as Ellen or rather Helen as he preferred her real name squinted at him before she proceeded to throw Curator Trinkets at him. Had Mercer been present he would have slowly followed behind just to pocket them.